These Chocolate Hazelnut Granola Bars combine the perfect natural sweetness of dates and maple syrup with the textural crunch from the oven baked oats and toasted hazelnuts. Together these simple ingredients come together to form a perfect afternoon (or even a breakfast bite!).
I’ve been looking for an afternoon snack for the kids that is filling, tasty, sweet and looks like it would be really naughty (but actually isn’t!). These granola bars fit the bill perfectly!
What’s in these Chocolate Hazelnut Granola Bars?
With just a handful of ingredients you can have yourself a really delicious snack. They pack in the healthy fats with the peanut butter and hazelnuts while keeping you full for a long time after from the rolled oats.
Rolled oats: Now I toasted my oats tossed in coconut oil and maple syrup as we love the crunch and taste that comes with the toasted oats. Saying that, toasting isn’t vital. If you prefer a softer bite to the bar, then just add them in as they are.
Hazelnuts: An essential ingredient to these bars. Chocolate and hazelnut... well they make a perfect combination of flavours (think nutella!)
Maple Syrup: The natural sweetener of the bar. (How good is the taste of maple syrup? I just looooove it!)
Cocoa Powder: These aren’t called chocolate hazelnut granola bars for nothing. The cocoa brings in the chocolate look with the added health benefits that a small amount adds to the bars. A ¼ cup between 10 bars- not much at all!
Chocolate chips: Ok well I wanted to add a little bit of naughty into these bars, and dark chocolate is as good a naughty as you can get. Add half into the mix and drizzle the rest on top. Or drizzle the whole lot on the top to create a layer. Either way the bitter notes of the dark chocolate offsets the sweetness perfectly.
Dates: when blended with the other ingredients the dates become the binder of these bars, that along with the maple syrup, hold the bars together. They’re nicknamed ‘nature’s candy’ and rightly so as they impart a beautiful sweetness
Peanut Butter: Add to the nutty tart of the bars but also helps bind them together. I’ve specified smooth peanut butter in my recipe (as it’s my favourite) but you can use any type of nut butter like almond or cashew if you like
Coconut oil: Added to the oats whilst toasting to allow them to crisper up
Salt: With anything sweet I always add a good pinch of salt to the majority of my desserts as its addition naturally enhances the natural flavours of the other ingredients.
Water: The water is added to the date and nut paste just to relax it and make it smoother which in turn aids in mixing in the oats and hazelnuts
Reasons to eat these delicious bars?
Where do I begin. Let me help you with some of my reasons why you should make these:
- Only 7 ingredients to perfection! (Let’s not count salt and water!)
- No bake ... Is that a push?! Toasting the oats and hazelnuts is optional. But a bonus is that there’s no baking at the end
- Super filling. Those oats work their magic and keep you full for ages
- Incredibly tasty. Think Ferrero Rocher...chocolate and hazelnut are a brilliant and tasty combination
I could go on and on, but you get my drift...these are delicious and I truly hope that you make them.
For more inspiration check out these (maybe not so healthy) recipes!
Browned Butter White Chocolate Blondies
Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Bars
Chocolate Hazelnut Granola Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 270 g rolled oats
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 120 ml maple syrup, split into 35g and 35g plus extra if necessary
- 140 g hazelnuts
- 160 g Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
- 80 g smooth peanut butter , (or any nut butter if preferred)
- 2 tbsp water
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 30 g cocoa powder
- 45 g chocolate chips
Topping
- 45 g dark chocolate chips
- ½ tsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F. Line a 22cm (9x9-inch) square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl place oats, coconut oil and half of the maple syrup (35g) and toss until coated. Pour onto a baking tray and spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until toasted and golden.
- Place hazelnuts onto a separate baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. (The tray can go into the oven at the same time as the oats). Remove the hazelnuts tray from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Using a paper towel, tea towel or between your fingers, rub the hazelnuts, and the skins will come off easily. Do this until the majority of the skins have been removed. Divide the hazelnuts in two and roughly chop half the hazelnuts.
- In a food processor, add the dates, peanut butter, water, salt, the remaining 35g maple syrup and whizz up until a paste has been created. Add the whole hazelnuts and pulse to combine.
- Into a large mixing bowl, add the toasted oats, cocoa powder, date paste and remaining chopped hazelnuts and stir until fully combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and using the back of a spoon or your fingers, press the mixture down firmly until it’s level and fairly compact. Refrigerate for a couple of hours until the bars are firm and then slice using a sharp knife.
- To serve, melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil together and stir until combined and then drizzle over the top of the bars.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
Nutrition
Anna
Loving the look of these bars and all of the ingredients you've used Emma! They would make a great alternative to some overpriced and not so tasty bars I buy in the shop! 😉
Emma
You’re totally right Anna! Tasty and not ‘bad’ for you - winning all the way right?!! x
Eileen
SO delicious and SO easy to make!! The hardest part is waiting for them to chill before eating 🙂
Emma
I know right-it’s so tempting to eat before they are chilled...but worth the wait!
Heena
Oh my word!! These are super easy to make and they are delicious and certainly a winner for all the family!
I used pecans as I didn’t have hazelnuts but it doesn’t matter they are divine 😃!
Emma
Great idea to sub the hazelnuts with pecans. Walnuts would be a good sub too. x